Advanced KPIs

This is part 1 of a 5 part series on Advanced KPIs.

Now for something more complex

Over the past few months we’ve covered many different kinds of metrics, ranging from financial metrics and user engagement metrics. So far I’ve focused on metrics that work across many different kinds of businesses to make it as useful as possible to as many people as possible.

The reality is that you likely have some more complex metrics that are specific to your business. It might have to do with the way your business is structured, how you generate your revenue or how investors evaluate your performance.

While most businesses have these kinds of metrics, they can be dangerous because they are specialized and complex. Without a larger group of companies to compare yourself to, it might not be obvious when these specialized metrics are biased or incorrect, or if they aren’t the right metrics to follow at all.

This week we’ll review some commonly used advanced KPIs for a range of different businesses, and discuss their pros and cons.

This is not meant to be a comprehensive survey of all KPIs for every type of business, but rather a series of examples on how different kinds of business measure themselves. My hope is that, by the end of the week, you are in a good position to think critically about the advanced metrics you use for your business!

Quote of the Day: “Any darn fool can make something complex; it takes a genius to make something simple.” ― Pete Seeger